Having depth at cornerback is a good problem to have, but the Steelers will need to act if they wish to keep what could be one of the best young cornerback duos in the league.

The business side of football doesn't always hold the simple concept of winning championships as the top priority. Or at least some actions don't appear to be in line with that goal.

Teams often take the financially motivated one step back in order to build to the two-steps-forward mentality in terms of production.

Odder things would have happened in the NFL than if the Steelers let cornerback Keenan Lewis walk in free agency.

When you've got highly talented CB Cortez Allen creating turnovers on a pace rarely seen from a Steelers cornerback, it's hard to ignore. Deshea Townsend was the last Steelers cornerback to have five combined interceptions and forced fumbles in a season and that happened in 2004. That was a team that had 40 total takeaways. The 2012 Steelers had 20, and Allen had five of them in the last two games of the season.

Granted, that in itself isn't enough to give him the starting job and begin campaigning for his Pro Bowl selection in 2013, but it's certainly enough for the team to consider when setting the ceiling on what they'll offer Lewis in his contract negotiations, scheduled to begin in the near future.

As Lewis's high school teammate Mike Wallace prepares to depart, the Steelers must weigh the depth of their team. It's a luxury to have three starting caliber corners, and in this pass-heavy league, nickel defensive backs may as well be considered starters - particularly when they're on the Steelers. Allen played 563 snaps this season - 50 more than two-down nose tackle Casey Hampton. Teams load up on receivers and spread teams out, looking to exploit opponents with shallow secondaries.

Allen covered Bengals superfreak A.J. Green much of Cincinnati's 13-10 win over Pittsburgh in Week 16. Considering Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was throwing the ball to Green nearly half of his 41 throws (18 targets), the fact Green had 10 catches is understandable. It's more than difficult to prevent a player of Green's ability from getting the ball if an offensive game plan rests solely on getting Green the ball. Allen had a pair of picks in the game - his first two this season - and suddenly, he led the team's cornerbacks in interceptions.

It's certainly tantalizing to think of having three defensive backs who can cover the way Ike Taylor, Lewis and Allen can, especially considering Lewis (26) and Allen (24) are so young.

The economic rule in the NFL is investing in a position can result in a huge benefit immediately if the right players are selected. But a low contract becomes a high contract if that benefit is fully realized. If the Steelers are truly committed to the investment they made by taking three cornerbacks in the mid-rounds from 2009-11 (Lewis, Allen and Curtis Brown), they're going to need to sign them long-term as well.

On the Steelers: Lewis wants 'starter money'
Cornerback is unrestricted free agent, says he would like to stay with team

January 3, 2013
By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

One season, two very different sets of circumstances for two high school teammates who came to the Steelers in 2009.

Mike Wallace was a bona fide star, a Pro Bowl receiver in 2011 offered tens of millions of dollars by the team he turned down in 2012. Keenan Lewis reached nickel back status in his third season, playing only in passing situations. The team offered him nothing but the required one-year tender as a restricted free agent in 2012.

Today, they are poised to become unrestricted free agents, and Lewis might even find himself in as good a position as his former classmate at Perry Walker High School in New Orleans. Lewis went from obscure backup cornerback to having such a good season in his first as a starter that he should be among the top handful of cornerbacks available in the 2013 free-agent market that opens March 12.

Lewis played for $1.26 million last season, a middle tender from the Steelers compared to a top tender of $2.7 million Wallace earned. Some team could have signed Lewis as a restricted free agent and given the Steelers a third-round pick as compensation. No one offered him a multiple-year contract to stay or leave, not the way the Steelers did with Wallace. Lewis is OK with that because he would not have attracted the kind of deal he will this year.

"I didn't want a contract in 2012," Lewis said Wednesday from his New Orleans home. "I was just a nickel back. I probably would have told them to hold up on the contract anyway because I wanted to really establish myself as a starting cornerback.
"I didn't want nickel-back money, I wanted starter money."

Lewis left his exit interview with coach Mike Tomlin on New Year's Day feeling good about the team's desire to sign him to a new contract.

"I'm hoping they do something so I can get back," said Lewis, who led the NFL in passes defensed. "They said they wanted me to come back."

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert is famous for his consistent reply to questions as to which free agents he wants to keep: All of them. They never do, of course. But Lewis is young, 27 in May, and looking like someone who can continue to partner with Taylor, 33 in May, and then succeed him as their top corner. It has been quite some time since the Steelers could count on two good cornerbacks and, with Cortez Allen playing the nickel, they look to have three.

Lewis first must heal from a sprained medial collateral ligament that will not require surgery. He predicted he will start running in a month.

Tomlin, Lewis said, told him that he blossomed in 2012. "He basically said I became a true professional, how I went about my business watching tape, my confidence grew and proving I could play. He figures I can be one of the best in the league. Now I know exactly what to work on. My goal is to be compared to the best corners, the Ike Taylors and Darrelle Revises."

Tomlin also told him the areas in which he needs to improve, catching the ball the major one. Tomlin likely told that to all the cornerbacks because they intercepted only three of the lowly team total of 10. Cortez Allen had two, Taylor one, Lewis none.

Veteran safety Will Allen noticed a big difference in Lewis the past two seasons. "I think he has built a lot of confidence. He is playing the ball a lot better. He has gotten better on his press technique. ... He is tall, long and fast. He has all the tangible things to be a great cornerback."

Lewis credits secondary coach Carnell Lake for helping him turn his game around. Lake joined the staff in 2011, and the pass defense has ranked No. 1 in both of his seasons. "Coach Lake got there, and he helped me out tremendously, stayed after work, watched tape with me. My career took off from there. The game started to slow down."

The free-agent game will speed up soon enough, and though Lewis said he loves playing for the Steelers, the Rooneys, Tomlin, Lake, etc., he also naturally wants to earn what he can.

"I want what I feel I deserve. I'm not trying to ask for way more. If they can work out a good deal with my agent, I'll be here. I'll always give them top priority because they're the team that drafted me.

"Some teams will try to speculate how much I should get. That's what [my agent is] for. I'm not going to speculate on $20 million, I'm not going to speculate on $50 million. I'll let him work the numbers out from what I put on tape and my ability."

Futures market

The season has ended for the Steelers, but the season of signing players to futures contracts has just begun.

The Steelers signed six players to contracts for the 2013 season, players who were either not on teams or on their practice squads at the end of the season. They signed offensive linemen Joe Long and Justin Cheadle, wide receivers Derek Moye and Bert Reed, and cornerback Isiah Green. All five had spent time on the Steelers practice squad in 2012.

They also signed Pittsburgh native Ross Ventrone, a defensive back. He spent portions of his rookie season in 2010 and in 2011 with the Patriots active roster and practice squad. New England released him during last training camp, and he was not on a roster last season.

We should of signed Lewis last off season when nobody else wanted him. He is a very good corner and should of known he would be at the very least a decent player after three years. Teams like Miami who are 40million under the cap can easily steal him from a team like us who are 12 million over. It just annoys me that we drafted him, trained him for 4 years and now he may go help another team during his peak years. As much as everyone here seems to love Omar Kauhn I'm sick of being over the cap every year and if we lose both Wallace and Lewis I'm really going to be mad.
We need to start spending our money more wisely ans stop giving huge contracts to our older, mostly injured or less productive players. We need to keep Lewis and not signing him last year is really going to hurt us next season.